Customer Reviews

The Chess Box :Chuck Berry

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In October of 2006 Chuck Berry will be 80 years old. Of the founders of rock `n' roll, he is today the one whose honor and esteem is most out of whack with his actual contributions. By any standards, Chuck Berry is one of the founding titans of rock. Musically, he contributed more than any other of the original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Elvis put rock `n' roll on the map, but Chuck is the one who drew it. Before Bob Dylan and the rash of great rock `n' roll song writers to spring up in the wake of Beatlemania, Chuck Berry was hands down the finest rock songwriter, with the lone exception of his equal Buddy Holly. It is only a slight over implication to state that most rock since Berry has been a variant of his original adaptation of rhythm and blues. And lyrically Berry was the most gifted lyricist before the advent of Bob Dylan. Of all the rock and roll performers, Berry was the easiest to understand when he sang, precisely pronouncing every word and for a very good reason: they were good words. Indeed, his diction was so superb that his earliest listeners refused to believe that he was a black man; they were convinced he was white. Chuck Berry has long been criticized for his lack of involvement in the Civil Rights movement and for reinforcing some negative images of black males, but by presenting himself as an undeniably intelligent and gifted black at a time when many whites were denying that blacks were as intelligent was itself an important contribution. Besides, working as a black crossover artist he was sometimes able to get his own back by subtle messaging. We all know, for instance, that in "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" he wasn't really talking about eye color. My hope is that for his birthday Berry will be recognized for what he was: the equal of anyone in making rock the popular musical form it became.

Apart from Berry's musical contributions, which were formidable, he brought a sense of playful theatricality that was key in defining early on that rock `n' roll, whatever else it was, was fun. Many of the early rock `n' rollers were great, great showmen in a way that few today aspire to be. Most contemporary performers rely on light shows, gimmicks, and props for their shows, but several early performers were precisely that: performers. To this day few guitarists have been as much fun to watch as Berry, not just during his legendary duck walks, but in a myriad of minor antics onstage.

But most of all, Chuck Berry has established a legacy of great, great songs. Most people know that the lone rock `n' roll song put on Voyager's data disc for any extraterrestrial who happens upon it was none other than Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode." Perhaps one day it will be as big a hit in Alpha Centauri as it has been on earth. What many today may not know is just how much very great music he produced. In fact, his string of hits outstrips nearly any of his contemporaries other than Elvis. His notorious stint in prison probably kept him from charting a few more hits (that he transported an underage girl across state lines is undeniable, but it is hard today to realize how vigorously he was prosecuted by St. Louis authorities and he certainly seems innocent of incitation to prostitution charges), but he eventually recovered from his ordeal to generate a second run of hits in the sixties.

Luckily, though in my and others' opinion Berry is not today given the credit he deserves for his major role in creating rock `n' roll, he has been exceedingly well served by a host of absolutely first rate anthologies. What I would like to do here is map out the five Chuck Berry collections I would most recommend. Each has its virtues and none any vices and it would be very hard to go wrong with any of them. I do think a couple of choices are better than others. Here are the main Chuck Berry collections available today:

CHESS BOX--If price is no consideration and you want almost all of the great music that Chuck Berry, this is unquestionably the one to get. The 3-CD set collects over 70 songs and has every one of the songs that the vast majority of music fans will have heard, all the way to his Christmas hit "Run Rudolph Run." There are a few cuts that are less than essential, but no current collection gives such a great view of his work as a whole, except for the complete collection of his Chess work, but in my opinion it collects too much that is of at most secondary interest.

ANTHOLOGY--Chess released this superb 2-CD culling from the larger CHESS BOX. Though less than half the price of the box, it collects over two-thirds of the songs, though without the Christmas songs that I frankly find endearing. But if you are willing to live without "Run Rudolph Run," this has just about all the Chuck Berry that most fans could crave.

GOLD--This is the big bargain of Chuck Berry anthologies. It contains all the major hits and familiar songs--though, again, without "Run Rudolph Run," which for some reason is omitted from almost all hits collections--and several nice extras as well. Though its 50 songs are slightly different than the one from the ANTHOLOGY, the heart of both collections is the same. If you don't own any Chuck Berry and are not sure that you want to spring the bucks for the CHESS BOX, this is probably the safest best. Lots of Chuck Berry for not very much money.

THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION--Well, no, this isn't definitive, but this newest Chuck Berry is arguably the finest single-disc edition. But here is the problem: The GOLD collection is only a buck more and contains 20 more songs. Plus, one of the 30 songs on this disc is the dreadful gimmick song "My Ding-A-Ling," a slightly ribald and not very good song that was Berry's last hit in the early seventies. My own belief is that shorter anthologies are improved by its exclusion.

THE GREAT TWENTY-EIGHT--This is back in print after being unavailable for a long time. Unlike THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION, this is pretty much definitive. Most anthologies basically take the songs off this disc and then add to it. It is canonical in a way that none of the other discs is. Nonetheless, while I think it deserves five stars simply for the role it has played in introducing fans to Berry and for its historical importance, I think it has been surpassed by other collections. Also, the sound on the later discs is better than what you will find on this disc. (Caveat: I own an earlier version of this disc, and it is not impossible that on its re-release the remastered versions of the recordings have been utilized.) Still, for a long, long time this was the Chuck Berry disc to get.

So, if I were buying my first Chuck Berry disc and couldn't afford the CHESS BOX, which one would I go for? I would probably go with the GOLD collection. It is cheap, contains a heap of songs, and has decent sound quality. Then, if I were sufficiently moved to the point where I wanted more, I would go for the CHESS BOX. That really is the best one to get, but there are some really inexpensive compromises that one can make and still get a lot of music by one of the towering figures in rock `n' roll.

Chuck Berry has released some fine albums throughout his career (Chuck Berry Is on Top, St. Louis to Liverpool), and until it went out of print the budget-minded could have gotten by with The Great Twenty-Eight. But for only a few dollars more you can enjoy this generous 71-track sampling of his entire career from 1955 to 1973.

Chuck Berry wrote the book on rock 'n' roll guitar and was a major influence on British teenagers Keith Richards and George Harrison and countless other guitarslingers since.

In the sixties, every British band had at least one Chuck Berry song in its live set and many of them made it onto vinyl as a tribute to the true king of rock 'n' roll--the Beatles ("Roll Over Beethoven," "Rock and Roll Music"), the Rolling Stones ("Carol," "Around and Around"), the Kinks ("Beautiful Delilah"), the Yardbirds ("Too Much Monkey Business"), the Dave Clark Five (Reelin' and Rockin'"), even Brian Wilson had to give Berry a songwriting credit for writing "Surfin U.S.A."

Berry's songs are timeless. While he's perhaps best known from his fifties heyday when he had such hits as "Maybelline," "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Johnny B. Goode," he still managed to place "No Particular Place to Go" in the top ten in 1964 during the height of Beatlemania.

This box set also shows the blusier side of Chuck Berry as well. Songs like "Wee Wee Hours" and "No Money Down" reflect the sound of his Chess labelmates. [Note: Bluesman Willie Dixon plays bass on nearly all of Berry's fifties sides.] And tracks like "A Deuce" would show Berry was still relevant into the seventies. In fact, it was in 1972 the Berry charted his first and only No. 1 single, the novelty "My Ding-a-Ling."

This 3-CD set collects all the hits and essential album tracks making this an indispensable collection. ESSENTIAL

Ever since Elvis Presley was named the "King of Rock and Roll", Chuck Berry has been given the short shrift. Sure, Elvis had the looks and the sexuality that scared millions, an expressive vocal range and died a relatively early death of excess. However, in terms of overall influence, creativity and genius, no one can touch Berry. Unlike Elvis, Berry wrote all of his own songs, played a meaner, faster guitar, had a stage presence that rivaled Presley's and had control over his own career. Along the way, he melded rock and blues, tackled controversial topics with his pen and lived a life far more dangerous than most of his contemporaries, save Jerry Lee Lewis. His songs have become classics: "Johnny Be Good", "No Particular Place To Go", "Memphis", "Roll Over Beethoven", the list just goes on and on. All of these songs and more are on the wonderfully prepared "Chess Box" set. Ordered chronologically, the three CDs show Berry's progression from Blues master to pop icon in just under 20 years. Every major hit is here, as are live and instrumental tracks that showcase Berry's prowness on the guitar. Lyrically, Berry influenced Bob Dylan and the Beatles and it is easy to see why; though his forte was teenage angst ("School Day", "Little Queenie", "Sweet Little Rock 'n' Roller"), Berry knew how to write subtle songs about racial segregation ("Brown-Eyed Handsome Man"), the consequences of divorce ("Memphis") and the drudgery of blue-collar work ("Too Much Monkey Business"). The liner notes are exemplary (though they do gloss over some of Berry's more infamous run-in's with the law) and the box set as a whole offers a wonderfully comprehensive look at this rock and roll master. There's not a bad track in the bunch and should be included in any serious consideration of the genre. Personal Favorites: the live version of "Reelin' and Rockin'", the song-speak of "Almost Grown" and the frightening description of Hell in "Downbound Train".

This 3 CD Chuck Berry box set houses a lot of great, timeless stuff from the pioneering rock & roll master. The thing is, there's no denying that this stuff can start to sound mighty similar after not too long, even over the course of 1 CD, plus, although the track listing is strong in general, there are a number of iffy/ head-scratching inclusions that could have been substituted for more enjoyable material. All that said, casual Chuck fans are not going to want to spring for this much, & "The Great Twenty-Eight" remains an ideal item for those who appreciate and /or like Chuck, but don't worship him.

Those that do worship him might not be fully satisfied by this set, because he recorded a ton of stuff for Chess Records, & that said, there's a ton of it that isn't here. There is a 9 CD "Chess Years" box set that was released, I'm pretty sure it came out in the early '90s, & apart from a very minimal amount of material that seems to be missing (I'm talking like a handful of tracks or less), it has everything he ever released on Chess--there is a LOT of material on it that is absolutely needless, redundant filler, although much of the material missing on "The Chess Box" is indeed quite good & interesting, & Chuck diehards will want it, although, again, Chuck was not exactly the most versatile artist around.

Admittedly, you could make a strong case that this set IS a decent compromise to the 9 CD set. Considering the similar-ness of so much of the material though, I tend to figure a fair amount of the people who are actually downright excited about the idea of 3 CDs will be delirious at the idea of having 9 CDs worth to sift through, & choose for themselves what's worthwhile & what isn't. The previous review stating "glaring omissions" was bound to come along, & it's not untrue--there are a pile of worthwhile tracks missing here (for starters, it's beyond me how the kickin', and frequently anthologized, car-song "I Want To Be Your Driver" got left off). It's not unlikely that, either you're going to find this to be way, way too much, or it's going to have you starving for more.

Some previous reviewers have said that this box includes every great Berry song...they're wrong. It would be perfect if it weren't for the inexplicable omissions of "Don't You Lie To Me" and "I Got To Find My Baby". There would also have been room for "Route 66"...
I must say that 'Anthology' does an excellent job in boiling this 3 CD set down to 2, AND it contains "Don't You Lie To Me" as well as "I Got To Find My Baby"!

People can talk all they want to about Elvis Presley being the king of rock and roll, but the truth is simple: Chuck Berry invented rock and roll guitar playing (just ask his most famous disciple, Keith Richards) and without his bastardization of ancient blues riffs and over the top picking and showmanship, rock and roll as we know it would not exist today. Unlike most other Berry compilations, which always seem to be missing a key track or two, "The Chess Box" contains all of the Berry magic you could ever want or need. Even in light of all of Berry's legal problems over the years, when you slip these discs into your CD player all is forgiven. And to top it off, the guy wrote great, simple lyrics from an everyman point of view. Hell, the monster 10-minute instrumental "Chuck's Beat" alone is worth the price of admission. Berry's music is like manna from heaven. Beautiful...

Move over Elvis, the throne was never yours to begin with. Chuck Berry is the real King of Rock n Roll and anyone who disagrees needs to get their hands on this. THIS is rock n roll, THIS is the man who started it all, and THIS is the guitar sound that launched a zillion bands, from superstars to garages.

Johny B. Goode is the greatest rock n roll song ever written, but Chuck was no where near a one hit wonder. Maybellene, Sweet Little 16, Brown Eyed Handsome Man, all the way to My Ding-a-Ling are classics and favorites.

Think you know Rock n Roll without knowing Chuck Berry? You are a fool. Chuck rules the roost.

When you say rock & roll, your saying Chuck Berry. This box set contains some of the best music of the century. Remastered to perfection, the father of rock gives you three decades worth of classic rock all the way to some great blues hits. I love the way the music is put into order of the way it came out so you can follow the history of his changing sound. The booklet is great also. List the hits, and where they made it on top 40. Also tells brief history and stories plus all the albums he put out with chess. This is a must for everyone, infact you'll never be able to listen to it enough once you get it. Thanks chess records, and long live Chuck Berry! John Clark!

This three CD box set came out over 20 years ago, but it is arguably still the definitive Chuck Berry collection. Chuck was one of the founding fathers of rock and roll, and recorded many classic songs, all of which are here. Chuck had a long association with Chess Records, and just about all the significant songs he recorded for the label are featured here, although the omission of "I Want to Be Your Driver" is puzzling. But they didn't have room to include every good song he recorded, so it's somewhat understandable. I highly recommend this box set.

The caption is taken from the first page of the wonderful book that accompanies this box-set. In total it reads "Just the mere mention of his name fills the mind with vivid, indelible images - images from the very heart of rock 'n' roll." From there you get 19 pages of background written by Bill Altman, mixed with some fabulous shots of Chuck over the years (with photos also appearing in the inserts for the three discs).

Then comes four pages of the text of an interview conducted by Andy McKaie of MCA, a complete listing of his Billboard Pop Top/Hot 100 singles, and ALL his album covers plus their contents, and a discography of the contents of the three CDs, complete wth the names of supporting musicians. The music speaks for itself and is well-covered in the other reviews, although I will add that the AAD sound quality, from the earliest cuts from 1955 to the last in 1975, is superb. As indicated in the accompanying book "Digitally remastered from original Chess Records mono and stereo masters by Doug Schwartz at MCS Studios, Glendale, CA."

So why 4 stars and not 5? Well, I have to agree with those who bemoan the omission of 11 flipsides from his hit singles. If you are going to produce something this ambitious, and for a R&R legend, why not go the whole nine yards and either expand the contents of the three CDs, or add a fourth? I don't think the added cost would have dissuaded his legions of fans.

Looking back I have to think that Chuck, while he certainly knew the commercial path to follow, never lost sight of his love for bluesy-jazz pieces, as each of his earliest hits were always backed by one such selection. Starting with Maybelline. That clarion call for the R&R Era was backed by the haunting Wee Wee Hours, which charted at # 10 R&B.

Drifting Heart, which backed Roll Over Beethoven, was another in the same vein. But while those two are included here, the B-side of School Day - Deep Feeling - is not. Nor are Lajuanda [b/o Oh Baby Doll], Blue Feeling [b/o Rock & Roll Music], Vacation Time [b/o Beautiful Delilah], Hey Pedro [b/o Carol], That's My Desire [b/o Anthony Boy], O Rangutang [b/o Nadine (Is It You?)], Brenda Lee [b/o You Never Can Tell], Go, Bobby Soxer [b/o Little Marie], Lonely School Days [b/o Dear Dad], and Let's Boogie [b/o Reelin' & Rockin' - the 1972 version].

It's ironic to note, too, that his ONLY Billboard Pop Hot 100 # 1 was the novelty tune My Ding-A-Ling which, done with the Average White Band in 1972, reached that pinnacle in late summer 1972. Significantly, it only reached # 42 on the R&B charts. His # 1 hits there were Maybelline (11 weeks at the top spot as well as # 5 Pop Top 100), School Days (5 weeks there and # 3 Top 100), and Sweet Little Sixteen (3 weeks and # 2 Top 100). In 1963 The Beach Boys would "borrow" the music from Sweet Little Sixteen for their # 3 Hot 100 Surfin' U.S.A. They wouldn't acknowledge that on the record until the 1974 release (# 36 Hot 100).

Maybe some day we'll see a re-release of this set with a fourth CD added to include those missing B-sides. In the meantime, consider this a beautiful and essential addition to your collection.